大学本科通识教育的他山之石 ——评哈佛大学与哥伦比亚大学本科通识课程体系之争

美国哈佛大学和哥伦比亚大学的通识教育课程体系已有一百多年的历史,它们各有特色,形成了当代美国高等教育的两大模式.2010年9月,美国学者皮尔森发表文章,对这两大体系进行了分析评论.本文对皮尔森的观点进行了批评性思考,同时指出:上述两大通识教育课程体系的实践,对我们设计和实施具有中国特色的通识教育课程体系具有启示作用.

The Essence of Core Curricula: Harvard-Columbia Models and Their Significance for Chinese Practice

As two of America's leading models in core curricula, Harvard and Columbia are distinctive from each other, the former being well-known for its "distributional model", while the latter for its seminars. The present paper starts with a critical comment on Pierson's "Where Columbia Beats Harvard", followed by a discussion of the possible significance the two models could have for Chinese higher education institutions when they design and implement similar core or general education curricula.